But when violence strikes in real life, it is chaotic and often muffled.

That's the scene that unfolded early Friday morning, shortly after midnight, when a gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a screening of the new Batman sequel.

In the few minutes it took the gunman to unload hundreds of rounds, according to police estimates, nearly everyone inside Theater No. 9 would make a life-or-death decision -- sometimes with terrifying results.

Just Watched

Victim shot in the neck, describes scene

The theaters of the Century 16 multiplex were filled with hard-core fans, many of whom bought tickets weeks earlier for the 12:05 a.m. premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises." Many wore costumes that emulated their favorite characters in the DC Comics franchise.

In the front of the theater, Seeger and a friend took seats in the second row, close to the screen. Emma Goose, 19, and her friends arrived late and were forced to take separate seats close to the front, also near the screen.

The gunman was there, too. He bought a ticket at the door and took a seat near the emergency exit door, according to police.

The movie was in its first minutes and most of the moviegoers didn't appear to notice the exit door open and then only partially close.

Authorities believe it was then that the gunman sneaked out to his car parked in the rear of the theater to pick up weapons and don a gas mask and tactical gear, including a ballistic helmet and protective gear for his legs, throat and groin.

It was shortly after 12:35 a.m. when Seeger first saw the man wearing a gas mask and toting weapons enter the theater through the emergency exit door.

He looked like "a SWAT man," decked out head-to-toe in black, Seeger thought.

It must be part of the show, she reasoned, an added attraction on the opening night of one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year.

Goose thought the same thing.

In one hand, the man held a hissing canister, they said. In the other, a rifle.

Seeger watched him as he lobbed the canister into the audience. It made a loud popping sound, witnesses say.

Seeger dived into the row, pushing her body underneath the seats next to her friend as she heard gunshots around her.

She quietly tried to calm her friend and those around her as hot shell casings bounced on the floor and hit her in the face, burning her forehead.

In a nearby row, Goose was on the floor, using the seats for cover, when she realized she had to move if she was going to survive.

"We started pushing each other and crawling over each other," she said.

The first 911 calls came into the Aurora Police Department at about 12:39 a.m. They were followed by dozens, perhaps hundreds more.

The voice of a dispatcher crackled over the radio to police units: "They're saying someone is shooting in the auditorium." Moments later, she added: "There is at least one person shot, but they're saying there's hundreds of people just running around."

People were pushing and shoving one another to try to get out of the tight rows of seats and down the aisles to safety.

Goose peered over the row of seats toward the gunman, who was now making his way toward the steps in the stadium-seating theater.

The gunman, witnesses would say later, walked slowly as he randomly fired at people. He shot at those who stood up and tried to flee, some said. He shot at people as they sat in their seat, said others.

Outside, by 12:42 a.m., police officers were surrounding the multiplex and other officers were making their way toward the theater where one smelled what he described over the radio as pepper spray.

"Get us some damn gas masks for Theater 9, we can't get in," one of the officers said.

Inside the theater, Seeger lay on the floor and played dead.

In a nearby row, Goose was trying to figure out how to get out. People were still trying to flee, and the gunman was still shooting.

In the dark, with the gunman moving toward the back of the theater, Goose crawled across the aisle -- to another row of seats near the exit. It was the same place a friend of hers was forced to sit when they couldn't find seats together.

But as soon as she cleared the aisle, she stumbled onto a man in the row who had been shot in the head. "He was grazed but bleeding a lot," she said.

Goose helped the wounded man out of the theater, while Seeger picked herself up off the floor and surveyed the carnage. There were bodies in the aisle, and people slumped over in seats who at first glance appeared to be dead.

Nearby, she thought heard a man "mumbling." She checked his pulse, her training as an emergency medical technician kicking in.

He was alive, but barely.

Her friend begged her, even screamed at her to leave the theater. But Seeger couldn't. Not yet.

Seeger grabbed the man under his arms and tried to drag him out of the row of seats, toward the exit.

Suddenly, there was screaming. Moviegoers were saying the gunman had returned.